Self-starting internal-combustion engine.



l. A. HEANY.

SELF STARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTTQN ENGlNE,

APPLICATION HLED MR` 27T 1913.

Patented June 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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I. A. HEANY.

' SELF STARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION'ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27, 4913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented June 1, 1915.

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@DOI/t1@ como IJMIMII To .allgfwzom it may concern.'

`JOHN ALLEN HEANY, OF WASHINGTON, BISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SELF-STARTING INTEBNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 1, 1933.,

' Application ledMarch 27, 1913. Serial N0. 757,166.

Beitknown that I, JOHN ALLEN HEANY, a citizen ot the United States, and a resident of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain nevviand use- 'ful Improvements in Self-Starting Internal- Combustion Engines, of Which the following is a full and clear specilication, refer ence being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a tourcylinder engine illustrating one form of my invention, parts being shown in vertical section approximately on the line l-l of Fig. 3; F ig. 2 is a vertical sectional View, partly in side elevation; F ig. 3 is a horizontal sectional viemtaken approximately on the line 3-'3 of Fig. 2; Fig. l av section taken len the lineY t4-l of Fig. 2; and Fig. a detail vertical sectional view taken o the line 5--5 of Fig. l. 1

The object of this invention is to dso construct the starting mechanism that it shall be' bnilt into the engine proper, thereby doing away with the unsightliness, ynreliability, lack of, durability, and liahility'to derangement which are necessarily incident to those starting mechanisms which are'mere attachments to an engine.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to a Well known type of engine (a four-cycle twin-cylinder engine) but it will be understood that the invention is applicable, with modilications as to details, to other types of engines.

In the drawings, a designates the Yusual Working pistons, Z) the Working cylinders, 0 the pitman connecting the pistons to the main crankshaft al, all constructed in suhstantially the usual manner. Each piston is extended toward the crank-shaft and provided with a supplemental piston e larger in diameter than the main piston and Working in a supplemental cylinder formed asa continuation of the main cylinder;

At a point immediately above the lowest point of travel of each supplemental piston e each cylinder 7" is provided with a port g putting the interior ot' the cylinder intol communication With the atmosphere; and at its upper end each cylinder is provided with a port h putting its clearance space i in communication with the interior of a valve chest j bolted to and extending across all cylinders. The outer wall of this valve chamber is provided with two ports 7c which put the interior di the valve chest in communication with a conduit Z extending to a suitable storage tank m, the conduit I being provided at a convenient point with a manually operable valve n Which is adapted to be opened toward the tank fm and which operates inthe manner of a check valve to hold the pressure in the tank.

One of thesupplemental cylinders is provided With a supplemental port 0 which puts the clearance space zf into direct communi tion with the conduitl Z, a suitable ball or other check valve p being arranged in the conduit to normally cut o the pressure in the' conduit from the port o. Inthe valve chest j is mounted a reciprocating valve g Which consists of a long bar accurately mar chined to slide between the outer wall of the valve chest and a. machined surface formed on the faces of the cylinders. At the proper points in its length this valve is provided with bearing faces r-which are adapted to alternately open and close the vports h in.' pairs when the valve is reciprocated. The valve bar is provided With openings e at tWo points, namely, between each outer pair of cut-oli faces o. Into these spaces `lead the respective ports is, so that upon reciprocation of the valve so that at all timesthe' interior of the conduit Zis in communication with the spaces or chambers in the valve chest formed between the two outer cut-oli' faces 7'. l

Entering the valve chest at a point midway the length thereof is a valve shaft t and at a point Within this valve chest this shaftis provided with an eccentric u, This eccentric is connected by a pitman 'u to the valve bar, and this pitman is connected to the bottom Wall of the valve chest by means ot' a retractile spring w which exerts a dmv.'- ivard pull on the pitman. Tlf; shaft t car- .ries rigidly one member of a clutch, and

slidably mounted on the shaft is the other member z/ of' said clutch. A governor z is connected to the member of the clutch so as to normally disengage the clutch at a predetermined speed. Atxed to the clutch is a helical gear a Which meshes with a helical gear b aiiXed to the usual cam shaft c of the engine.

, Operation: Assuming that air is stored in the tank m, to start the engine it is simply necessary to open the valve n, whereupon the compressed air will intmthe two ports It. Fromthese chambers the air will enter that pair of supplemental cylinders in whichthe supplemental pistons are ready to descend or have partly completedV their downward stroke. As these pistons descend the crank shaft of the engine-will be turned andthe other pair'l of pistons will`be raised to the upper extremities of their' stroke, the air in these cylinders being expelled into the atmosphere through the ports h, one of these exhausting riorts fr. being in communication. with the atmosphere through the open end of the valve chest and the other being in communicationv 'with the atmosphere through-the middle portion of the valve chest 'and a suitable opening d formed in the wall of the valve chest, this portion et the valve chest being entirely cut ofi from those portions of the valve cliest subjected to pressure from tank. As soon as the descending pair of pistons reaches thelower extremity of their movement they will-exhaust through ports g and also through the upper ports It, the valve g being shifted' to uncover the proper ports at the proper time. The 'shitting of the valve is accomplished by means of the eccentric u, pitman 0, shaft t and the connected mechanism. As the pistons `e ascend they'will complete their exhausting through the upper ports h. After the engine acquires a predeterminedspeed under air power or full power or both, the governor automatically disconnects the clutch members y and and also the gears a and o', whereupon the valve shaft t is released from the driving power of the engine.

When this shaft t is thus released, the downward pull of the spring fw exerts sufficient leverage on the eccentric to turn the eccentric downwardly, Aas shown in Fig. 4, which will cause the e bar toshift to the posi'- tion shown in 'l, in which position the cut oit faces r close all the ports it against both eduction and l iction of air. As soon as this cut oil act1 kes piace the cylinder to which port o connected commences to act as a pump i narging the tank m. llith each downen.: roke of the p'iston e in this pumping cylinder, the cylinder takes atmospheric air through its port g and upon the ascension of the piston this airis compressed into the clearance z' and thence through port o, past valvesp and n and on into the tank. This pumping action continuesf until the maximumV pressure is acquired inthe tank, this pressure being determined by the cubic volume of clearance z' between the upper face of the piston e and the head ot' this cylinder. After this maximum pressure is obtained this pumping piston e continues to alternately compress and expand the air confined in this cylinder, the cylinder being put into communication with the atmosphere at the extremity of every downstrolre through port g. This alternate compression and expansion o' this cylinder air involves no material waste of power, es-

without attention on the part of` the chauffeur or other attendarit.

A feature ot importance is that with my construction l need to employ but one of the cylinders for pumping purposes, thusgreatly simplifying the mechanism and at the same time providing ample pumping capacity for the restoring of the pressure in the tank. 'A

'feature of furtherimportance is that all bother of watching a pressure gage and all danger ot obtaining too great a pressure 1n the tank are avoided since by providing a clearance space above the supplemental piston and providing a port which will put the interior of the supplemental cylinder into communication with the atmosphere at the extremity ot' the non-compression stroke of the piston, it will be impossible to pump up a higher pressure than that which is provided for in the designing of the engine, this pressure being determined, as stated, by the relation between the cubic volume of cylinder space at the lower extremity of the piston .stroke and the clearai :e space provided or at the upper or compression end of the stroke.

The remaihing three non-pumping supplemental pistons will operate in a manner the same as the pumping piston operates after the designed pressure in the tank is attained, namely, alternately compress and expand the air in the supplemental cylinders, each of these cylinders being put into communication with the atmosphere at the lower extremity of the stroke of this supplemental piston. This alternate compression and expansion of the air entrapped in the supplemental cylinders is advantageous" in that it serves to cushion the movement of the pistons and thus eliminates noise and' Wear at the pivotal bearings ot' the piston rods c.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is` 'y 1. In combination with a multiple cylinder explosive engine having enlarged supplemental pistons and cylinders, a port at the upper end of each supplemental cylinder l operated from the crank shaft of tbe engine to automatically control said valved means, for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with a multiple cylinder explosive engine having enlarged supplemental cylinders and pistons connected to the main cylinders and4 pistons, a storage tank and a conduit connecting the same to ports in the upper ends of said supplemental cylinders, each of said supplemental cylinders being also vprovided with a port at its lower end adapted to put the interior of the cylinder into communication with the atmosphere upon the down stroke of the supplemental piston working therein, valve mechanism operated from the engine for controlling the ports at the upper ends of the supplemental cylinders, and means whereby when the engine is running on' fuelv power said valve mechanism will be rendered inoperative, means being provided for converting one of the supplemental cylinders into a pumping cylinder to recharge the tank when said valve mechanism is thus rendered inoperative.

3. In combination with a multiple cylinder explosive engine having enlarged sup'- plemental pistons and cylinders, a storage tank and means whereby air from said-tank may be employed to start the engine through the medium of all said supplemental cylinders and pistons, and means whereb when the engine is running un der its own one of the supplemental cylinders will bqvv'converted into a pump and will serve to recharge the tank and the remaining supplemental cylinders will alternately compress and expand entrapped air and thus serve as air cushions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN ALLEN. HEANY.

Witnesses: Y

CHARLnsgD. Davis, CHARLES LOWELL HOWARD. 

